Wednesday, December 31, 2008

In May, my father and I also visited Malbork. It is famous for its Gothic castle, one of the biggest and most striking castles in Europe. Both the city and the castle were founded in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights.

The castle is absolutely marvelous. Both my father and I loved it. We took a guided tour that lasted around 3.5 hours and we also went for a special night show with music and lights. The guided tour was very interesting as guides do their best to give you feeling for how life was during the times when the castle was occupied. The night show, on the other hand, was not that great. My father was bored during it and I only liked it because I played with my camera all the time.

Even though we were visiting the castle on a weekday, still there was a very long line (at least 30 min long) to buy tickets. So if you plan to visit it, definitely try to avoid weekends and, if possible, buy tickets in advance.

One of the gates:

Typical Gothic style windows:

Typical Gothic rib vaults:

Seals:

Reproduction of Jacek Malczewski's "Self-portrait in the armory" next to the armory of the Polish Knights who defeated the Teutonic Knigths during the Battle of Grunwald:

Monday, December 29, 2008

In May this year I was visiting my family in Poland. During this trip, my father and I went for a few days to Gdansk. I should have posted photos from this trip long time ago, but I never found time to do so. But at least I managed to do it before the year is over :)

Gdansk is a very beautiful thousand year old city located in northern Poland, just at the seaside. For many centuries it was an important seaport and trading center. To this date you can see there many signs of past glory:

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Meet the author and the main protagonist:

Hi! Welcome to the blog of Monika, a world traveler, writer and photographer. You can find here some of my photos, as well as descriptions of my adventures from around the world. Enjoy reading and thanks for stopping by!